Danone Ireland has agreed a three-year partnership, becoming the latest company in the food and drink sector to work with FoodCloud, the social enterprise that seeks to reduce food waste and food insecurity.
Danone will provide a nutrition education programme through FoodCloud's community support programme, which assists approximately 600 charities and community groups around Ireland with educational resources and training.
Registered dietitians and nutritionists from Danone will directly support FoodCloud's charity and community group partners with an annual webinar and the provision of recipes and nutritional information.
Some 9% of people in Ireland experienced food poverty last year, according to the Department of Social Protection.
The programme aims to help charities and community groups make the most of surplus food and prepare nutritionally balanced meals for those who use their services.
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Danone hopes to help FoodCloud increase the volume of food it redistributes by 10% and grow the number of charities and groups it assists by 50 per year. The partnership will also allow FoodCloud to distribute the equivalent of over 600,000 meals.
Danone’s unlimited volunteering policy means its more than 740 employees around Ireland can support FoodCloud at its three food distribution hubs in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
"Having worked with FoodCloud for a number of years, we wanted to evolve our partnership beyond providing surplus food, to better supporting the charities and community groups who receive it," said Killian Barry, managing director at Danone Ireland.
"As a health-focused company with a mission to nourish life, we have a team of in-house nutritionists and dietitians who can share their expertise with FoodCloud’s network.
"With this expanded partnership, we hope to help these charities and groups in a practical, meaningful way, at a time when it is most needed, and create a wider positive impact in terms of food and nutrition education.”
Aoibheann O’Brien, partnerships director at FoodCloud, added: “We are committed to not only ensuring that perfectly good food does not go to waste, but also supporting our community group partners to make the most of the surplus food they receive.
"We look forward to working with Danone to develop recipes that support our brilliant network of charity chef partners nationwide with new ideas on how to use the surplus food we provide.”
A recent FoodCloud survey of its charity partners showed food purchasing has become more challenging for families and individuals
Brendan Dowling of Whitefriar Community Centre, which will benefit from the partnership, said: “Obviously, the main role we have within our community is redistribution of surplus food to those in need.
"However, we also run cooking workshops and clubs with young people from the area and share healthy cooking advice to local parents and adults. We are so fortunate that we get to see for ourselves the difference this can make, it truly changes lives, and we think this work with FoodCloud and Danone will be of real benefit in the community.”
Photo: (l-r) Killian Barry, Aoibheann O’Brien, and Brendan Dowling of Whitefriar Community Centre at FoodCloud’s hub in Tallaght. (Pic: Julien Behal Photography)
